History of the Lucia Brandl Collection

Lucia Brandl was a great art lover and a passionate collector in Romania. Throughout her life, she carefully and sensitively assembled a body of rare works, bearing witness to an enlightened eye and a deep attachment to artistic creation. Upon her death, the entire collection was passed on to her son, Dica Brandl.

The years that followed were marked by tragic events. Faced with serious financial difficulties, Dica Brandl attempted in 1986, under the communist regime, to sell abroad a renowned sculpture entitled Supplicius. While crossing the border, he was arrested by the authorities. The work was immediately confiscated, and Dica Brandl was imprisoned for several months. To this day, the sculpture remains housed in a museum in Bucharest, a silent witness to this painful history.

After his release, his life took a dramatic turn. His wife filed for divorce, and Dica Brandl, deeply affected by the ordeal, gradually descended into alcoholism and isolation.

During this period of great distress, one man reached out to him: Gheorghe Manea, his neighbor. On several occasions, Manea helped him survive, paying his electricity bills and lending him money when all hope seemed lost.

One day, Dica Brandl asked Gheorghe Manea to come to his home with nothing more than a wheelbarrow. Once in the attic, Dica handed over all the sculptures stored there, as a gesture of gratitude and compensation for the essential—almost life-saving—help he had received.

Shortly after this final act of transmission, Dica Brandl passed away in turn. Thus was sealed the destiny of the Lucia Brandl Collection—a collection shaped by history, loss, human solidarity, and the silent memory carried by works of art.